September 11, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Accounting Alumnus G. Brint Ryan Donates $1 Million to UNT Foundation.
Gift from Founder/Managing Principal of Ryan & Company Creates a Permanent Endowment
for the Accounting Department in UNT's College of Business Administration.
Denton (UNT), Texas -- G. Brint Ryan of Dallas, a University of North Texas accounting
graduate who founded Ryan & Company—America's largest independent state & local tax
consulting firm—has donated $1 million to the UNT Foundation.
The gift will create a permanent endowment fund that is expected to generate approximately $40,000
a year in discretionary spending for the Accounting Department in UNT's College of Business Administration.
"The Accounting Department in UNT's College of Business Administration laid the foundation for my
success today," said Ryan. "It is a strong program and offers students the skills they need to
succeed professionally. I am proud to be associated with the program and know this support will
add to the strength and reputation of the school."
Ryan's gift is the largest donation ever given for the benefit of the university's Accounting Department.
"Brint Ryan's generous gift is providing critical resources to boost the Accounting Program's future
offerings and, at the same time, jump-starting the Outreach Program for the college as a whole," said
Dr. Kathleen Cooper, dean of UNT's College of Business Administration.
After completing the university's combined 150 semester hour Bachelor of Science and Master of Science
program in Accounting, Ryan earned both degrees in 1988.
Since his graduation, Ryan has taken many opportunities to demonstrate his ardent support for his alma
mater and the department that granted his degrees.
He is a member and former chair of the UNT Accounting Advisory Board. In that capacity, he has served
on the search committee for a department chair and supported the department's internship program.
Prior to his $1 million donation, Ryan gave gifts totaling more than $74,000 to the university and the
Accounting Department.
Additionally, he has recruited other UNT accounting graduates for Ryan & Company. Three current Principals
on the Firm's management team—Randy W. Donald, Ginny Buckner Kissling, and Gerard Quinlan—are UNT accounting alums.
"Brint Ryan's gift of $1 million—the earnings of which may be used where the department's needs are
most critical—will not only help the department maintain its standards of excellence, but enhance
the department's national profile as well," said Dr. Finley Graves, Professor and Chair of the
Accounting Department.
"Brint has long been a supporter of the department," Graves said. "He has funded as many as ten
scholarships a year for outstanding sophomores who declare accounting as their major. Also, two
years ago, he funded the renovation of the department's office suites, which were sorely in need
of updating. And he furnished the department's conference room, which we have named the 'G. Brint
and Amanda Ryan Conference Room'."
In 2003, UNT honored Ryan with an Outstanding Alumnus Service Award. The Accounting Department
recognized him as Alumnus of the Year in 1997. And the UNT chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary
organization for financial information students and professionals that provides encouragement and
recognition to scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field, has honored
him as a Distinguished Alumnus.
Ryan built his firm from the ground up. Today, with more than 600 professionals and associates in 26
locations in the United States and Canada, it serves many of the world's most prominent Fortune 1000 companies. Ryan & Company
services include: audit defense, tax recovery, tax decision automation, dispute resolution, and strategic
planning.
**UNT**
PRESS INFORMATION CONTACT:
Roddy Wolper
Director of News and Information
Division of University Relations, Communications and Marketing
940.565.2943
rwolper@unt.edu
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